Taste & Technique: Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking (2024)

I received this book as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was extremely excited to be approved for this advance reader copy, as I am a competent home cook with virtually no technique to back up my culinary efforts. I can chop and mince, and I can brown and sauté, and a few other very basic techniques. So I was really looking forward to a book by a self-trained chef that would help me elevate my culinary skills.

The “How This Book Works” section of the Introduction instantly endeared me to the book. The author’s basic philosophy is that cooking should be a pleasure, and not something that is scary or overwhelming or intimidating. The author actually takes the time to discuss the importance of doing what it takes to mentally feel good about going into a cooking session, so that you don’t psych yourself out by trying to get everything perfect. I found that very refreshing. Overall, the author aims for her book to get people into the kitchen, to take cooking seriously, and to feel good about it.

According to the Introduction, the book is arranged classically: sauces first, then starters, soups, salads, vegetables, proteins, desserts and pastries. Within each section, there is a brief introduction to the section and then a table of contents listing the recipes in that section. Each recipe clearly identifies the quantity or number of servings at the top of the page. Ingredients are listed in a column along the right of the page. The vast majority of the ingredients are commonly available, but there is the occasional odd specialty item such as fennel pollen or pink curing salt no. 1. There is a substantial introduction to the recipe, which describes the finer points of the techniques used in the recipe, suggested food pairings, and other valuable information. After the introduction follow the recipe steps, which very rarely use technical terms – such as macerate – without explanation. If a specific technique is described in greater depth in the Technique section of the book, the page reference always follows the term. In general, the recipe steps offer a lot of explanation for why certain steps get done in a certain order or why it is important to perform certain tasks in a certain way. The last recipe step for the proteins is always how to compose the plate: explaining when the side dish and/or sauce in the featured variation should be started and plated relative to the protein in the recipe. Variations are also sometimes offered, with suggested food pairings. In the chapters for the proteins, there are lists of seasonal variations, which suggest food pairings according to the season. All the recipes cited in the seasonal variations are cross-referenced by page number. Notes are sometimes offered with even more additional information that didn’t fit in the recipe introduction or recipe steps.

I think one of my favorite techniques in the book is using a puree of either blanched and shocked spinach or blanched and shocked parsley to naturally restore the green color that has been lost by long cooking of the green vegetables in a soup. I just love that idea. Another gem is her way of checking a melon for ripeness: gently press on the end of the melon where the blossom was and sniff to see if it emits a floral fragrance.

Overall, many of the recipes in this collection are neither basic nor forgiving. Aioli and hollandaise are introduced early in the sauces chapter, and used in several other recipes. Many recipes call for precision measurement, right down to the amount of water used to blanch or shock the vegetables. For example, in the potato dumpling recipe, the amount of riced potatoes has to be weighed exactly. Even salt and pepper used to season proteins is precisely measured. Temperatures for custards are also provided with precision. I did appreciate that when she discussed rolling out doughs she also gave the thickness in the equivalent of a stack of quarters for easy reference. The vast majority of the sauces, soups, starters, and proteins have to be served immediately.

The selection of the recipes for the proteins is fairly limited: only four recipes for each protein to reinforce the techniques. Most disappointing was that there was a beautiful two-page photograph of a whole roasted chicken stuffed with a lemon and rosemary sprigs at the beginning of the Poultry section, and yet there was no corresponding recipe in the section. The techniques in the Poultry section covered brining, searing, braising and making a confit, but not the most basic roasting. The Pork section covered seasoning, brining, glazing, braising, searing, resting and slicing various cuts of pork. The techniques in the Beef section covered how to marinate, sear, roast, braise, rest and slice a variety of cuts of beef.

The Ingredients, Equipment, and Techniques sections at the end of the book were jam packed full of good information. Reading these sections was a whirlwind because they were unaccompanied by any photos. But they were meant to be referenced through the course of the working through the recipes rather than read all in one straight shot.

The photography in the book is quite lovely. However, the photography is predominantly full-page photography of finished recipes. These are helpful in realizing the presentation that the author describes in the final step of the recipe. However, there is very little photography illustrating other recipe steps. Perhaps one of the most useful photographs in the book was the photograph of the set up for whisking hollandaise sauce, as it did a superb job of illustrating that recipe step. The photomontage illustrating how to tie a roast was also fairly successful because it showed what to do with the twine in order to secure the roast. The series of photos illustrating the steps of creating puff pastry were superb. However, the photomontage illustrating some of the recipe steps for Crispy Baby Artichokes was not very successful because what I really wanted to see was the difference between a half of a baby artichoke with a choke that needs to be cleaned out and a half of a baby artichoke without a choke that is good to go.

In the end, I think the author achieves her goal as stated in the Introduction. I have several recipes marked to test from Taste and Technique and I will update my review when I test them.

UPDATE #1: The first recipe that I tested was the Seared Sea Scallops. I have to be honest: I have a pan fried sea scallop recipe from Cooks Illustrated that I adore – except for the oil splatter mess that it creates. So I was open to trying a new sea scallop recipe that might not create such a mess. The Taste and Technique recipe only called for two teaspoons of olive oil, and to pour off any oil that is in excess of a thin even film on the pan. On my first try, there was no oil splatter mess, but there was a lot of smoke! And that might have been my fault. The way the instructions were blocked together in giant paragraphs made it very difficult to follow discrete steps, so I tried to memorize the key points of the recipe rather than drag the laptop into the kitchen to keep referencing the text. I thought the recipe called for the oil to be heated beyond shimmering until smoking and then pour off the excess. In fact, the recipe called for the oil to be heated until shimmering, NOT smoking. So I started with my oil hotter than necessary. Additionally, since I don’t own a black steel pan, I used a cast iron pan, which apparently absorbed the remaining oil before the cooking was completed. Despite these faux pas, the four scallops in the first attempt were a lovely golden brown on each side (2 minutes on the first side, 1 minute on the second side). Because of the smoke and the low light in my kitchen, I couldn’t tell whether the middle third of each was translucent like it should be. But the four scallops in the first attempt were delicious.

My second attempt at the Seared Sea Scallops for lunch the next afternoon went better. I knew to heat the oil to shimmering, not smoking, and, because I was still using the same cast iron pan, I elected not to pour off the excess oil. I maintained the 2 minute sear on the first side, and the 1 minute sear on the second side. Two of the four scallops stuck to the pan after the searing the first side, so the nice golden crust on that side was disrupted. Otherwise, the scallops were just as delicious as the night before, and without the problematic smoke issue.

Because I had an overabundance of hazelnuts in my pantry, the second recipe I tested was the Candied Nuts. Making the sugar syrup went smoothly, as did boiling the hazelnuts in the syrup. Instead of greasing a baking tin with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, I lined a baking tin with aluminum foil and sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray. That worked just fine, as none of the hazelnuts stuck to the tin. I thought I would have a problem keeping track of removing, stirring, and resetting the timer for four rounds of 5-minute baking periods, but I managed that fairly easily. The resulting product was hard and glassy, as described in the recipe, but wasn’t very sweet or salty. In fact, it tasted more like a toasted hazelnut than a candied hazelnut. I skipped tossing the nuts with an extra tablespoon of olive oil and went straight to storing them in an airtight container. There was a lot of leftover simple syrup, which seemed very wasteful because it was extremely flavorful albeit slightly salty. Since I have another container of hazelnuts in the pantry, I may use the same syrup to candy a second batch.

The third recipe I tested was Pan Seared Salmon. Because I do not own a black steel pan, I used a medium sized nonstick pan and didn’t notice any detriment. The recipe was very straightforward and easy to follow, although again I kept getting a little lost in the big paragraphs of text as I was in the cooking moment. This was not a “set it and forget it” recipe, as it required some type of intervention every three minutes or so. The resulting salmon filet was very moist but rather plain, especially considering the butter mess it created in the pan. When I told my dad about the recipe, his comment was “That seems like a lot of work when you could just throw the whole filet on the grill with a little olive oil and Montreal steak seasoning.” Granted, it was early June when I tested the recipe and he had just gotten his grill going during a streak of very nice weather days.

The fourth recipe I tested was the Classic French Onion Soup, which reminded me why I don’t make French onion soup at home all that often. It takes a lot of active work over a steaming pot to carmelize onions! Right off the bat I had problems. I bought eight large onions, and slicing them filled my usual cast iron soup pot to the brim. So I had no room to maneuver when smoke started coming up from the bottom of the pot, with a slight burning smell. That was not a hard problem to correct: I just dumped the onions from my cast iron soup pot into my significantly larger aluminum Sunday gravy pot. Of course, as I was cooking down the onions and noticing all the liquid that they were producing, I took the opportunity to read the recipe introduction and realized that I bought the wrong kind of onions. In my mind, Vidalia onions are yellow onions (as opposed to red onions). Apparently sweet onions like Vidalias are not good for onion soup due to their high water content. The onions gave off so much water that I drained off 1 2/3 cups of “onion water” in order to facilitate the carmelization step. I was glad that I didn’t drain off any more liquid because I needed that excess to dissolve the crusty fond on the bottom of the pot. In fact, toward the very end, I had to periodically add back a little of the “onion water” to help dissolve the fond. Because I was using an aluminum pot with a very thin bottom, the fond got out of control toward the end, and fifteen minutes of continuous active scraping did not reincorporate it all into the onions. So once the soup is finished, I’m going to have some significant work to do in the sink with steel wool and baking soda. While I did add the sherry and the balsamic vinegar, I skipped the Tabasco and the fish sauce. I only used two quarts of Swanson beef stock because that volume looked right compared to the volume of cooked onions; I thought the extra half-quart would overwhelm the onions. Overall, despite the drama and the active work, the recipe turned out very well.

UPDATE #2: In January 2017, I retested the French Onion Soup recipe with much better results and much less drama. I picked my onions from the "yellow onion" bin, only to get them home and find "sweet onion" stickers on them. This time, I used my mandoline to ensure that the onion quarters were precisely thinly sliced. I attempted to fit them all in my heavy enamel cast iron Dansk soup pot, and met with success, so I used that instead of the aluminum pot that I fought with last time. Thanks to the heavier pot, I had no problems with the fond getting out of control. It formed beautifully and dissolved handily. Like last time, I added both the sherry and the balsamic vinegar, but skipped the Tabasco and the fish sauce. I also limited the beef stock to two quarts because that looked like the correct volume relative to the caramelized onions. The recipe turned out fantastic. Details of my January 2017 attempt at the recipe - with photos - are on my blog.

Description
James Beard Award-winning and self-made chef Naomi Pomeroy's debut cookbook, featuring 95 lesson-driven recipes designed to improve the home cook's understanding of professional techniques and flavor combinations in order to produce simple, but show stopping meals.
Combining elements of Julia Child's classical aesthetic and ambition to teach the world how to cook with Naomi Pomeroy's own unique history, style, and verve, this book is an inspiring guide for home cooks who want to up their game in the kitchen. Pomeroy demystifies professional techniques by paring back complex recipes to the building blocks necessary to create them. Her "master lessons" approach will appeal to home cooks of all levels who want to improve their skills. And her nurturing, self-deprecating tone is a welcome change from the ethereal fine-dining tomes that home cooks can't actually cook from or the snapshots of a specific restaurant meant to celebrate the chef's cult of personality. Beginning with sauces, and working from straightforward to more complex recipes, Pomeroy presents a collection of dishes you want to eat every day, including salads, vegetables, fish, pork, meat, and desserts--along with the tools and techniques you need to make each meal shine.
Review
The first thing I noticed and liked about this book is the abbreviated history of the author including her path to becoming a chef and of both her business successes and failures, I like to know a little of the road people have travelled.

In the informative “How this book works” section Chef Pomeroy explains her cooking philosophy in a down to earth workmanlike way, from the building blocks of technique to how the mood you take with you to the kitchen can affect the taste and quality of the food you produce.

It has an easy to read layout, divided into sections with each section having a little “menu” of contents so the reader can easily see the recipes at a glance.

The techniques are built in to each recipe , a good example being the very detailed instructions for making consommé, a long and many staged process, but if you can master it you will learn some very useful techniques. However, many of the recipes are what most people would consider to restaurant standard and a little too challenging. Nevertheless, ambitious home cooks will find plenty to challenge and inspire them.

As for myself, I discovered a couple of recipes that I will certainly be trying, one being for aioli with variations. Another recipe I thought I might manage is Classic French Onion soup. I thought that the cabbage veloute with lemon confit creme fraiche and herb oil would be a bit too difficult and fancy for my taste!

Other useful sections include the choosing of equipment, a handy pantry guide and a most excellent glossary of techniques.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in food, even if the recipes are not exactly everyday cooking, there is something of interest for every food lover, no matter their level of expertise.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Ten Speed Press
Available from Amazon

The first thing I noticed and liked about this book is the abbreviated history of the author including her path to becoming a chef and her business successes and failures, I like to know a little about an author.
In the informative “How this book works” section Chef Pomeroy explains her cooking philosophy in a down to earth workmanlike way, from the building blocks of technique to how the mood you take with you to the kitchen can affect the taste and quality of the food you produce.
It has an easy to read layout, divided into sections with each section having s a little “menu” of contents so the reader can see the recipes at a glance.
Techniques are built in to each recipe a good example being the very detailed instructions for making consommé, however, many of the recipes are what most people would consider to be restaurant standard. Nevertheless, ambitious home cooks will find plenty to challenge and inspire them.
As for myself, I discovered a couple of recipes that I will certainly be trying, one being for aioli and variations. Another recipe I thought I might manage is Classic French Onion soup, I thought that the cabbage veloute with lemon confit creme fraiche and herb oil would be a bit fancy for my taste.

Other useful sections include choosing equipment, a handy pantry guide and an excellent glossary of techniques.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in food, even if the recipes are not exactly everyday cooking, there is something of interest for every food lover, no matter their level of expertise.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: 13 September 2016

“Taste & Technique: Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking” is a large, recipe and photo-filled blend of upscale creativity and down-home familiarity. An interesting and informative collection of recipes, cooking information, techniques, equipment and helpful hints from Chef Naomi Pomeroy, this is a both a cookbook and a tutorial. Each recipe has its own little back story, and many of the recipes offer seasonal suggestions. While the food is definitely the product of an accomplished cook’s kitchen, the photography is gloriously unglamorous, making it the perfect showcase for the magnificently messy “Classic French Onion Soup”, the colorfully rustic “Fresh Corn and Summer Vegetable Succotash”, and the vibrant “Orange-Caraway Glazed Carrots”. Other recipes with great appeal include: “Spring Pea Risotto”; “Parmesan Straws”; “Caramelized Delicata Squash”; “Pan-Seared Pork Chops”; “Potato Dumplings”; “Balsamic Braised Short Ribs”; “Apricot-Brown Butter Tart”; “Buckwheat Crepes with Sautéed Apples and Toffee Sauce”; “Malt Ice Cream”; and “White Chocolate Mousse”. The enjoyable introduction from Chef Pomeroy is both personal and factual, and will be appreciated by faithful foodies. Naomi Pomeroy won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Pacific Northwest in 2014, was named a Best New Chef 
in Food & Wine in 2009, and has been featured in Bon Appétit, Elle, and O magazine, along with appearances on Top Chef Masters and Knife Fight. After launching Family Supper, clarklewis, and Gotham Tavern, she opened Beast in 2007 and her bar Expatriate in 2013. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Review Copy Gratis Ten Speed Press via Blogging for Books

Naomi Pomeroy is a bit of a celebrity chef. I have never been to her restaurant (on the other side of the county from me), but I have read about her for a long time. She has gotten loads of good reviews from food magazines and food writers, and plenty of awards, including a James Beard. This is the first book by her that I have read, and it may be her only book as yet.

The recipes in Taste & Technique reflect a high skill level. They appear a bit challenging for my skill level as a home cook, but they are also inspiring. Having 'Technique' in the title says a fair bit about what to expect inside.

The way that the recipes are written, and the photographs of the results, really make me want to attempt Burrata with Dandelion, Golden Raisin and Pistachio Pistou, even though I had no idea what Pistou was before reading her explanation. I must try to cook Smoky Tomato Veloute with Parmesan Straws before I am much older, as it looks and sounds amazing.

For all the fine dining feel of the recipes, there is no pretentious attitude present. The overall feel is of an honest chef who enjoys creating with food, and wants to share techniques that have been successful for her. As the book looks now, I would recommend it for a confident home chef, who would like to introduce a fine dining feel to their home meals.

**eARC Netgalley**